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Covid Vaccination and the New York City Recovery


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New York's recovery is happening (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


New York City was the epicenter of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic as it began in the United States. It recorded its first death from the disease on March 1, 2020. The city’s economy also suffered a massive setback during the lockdown in the early months of the pandemic.

A full job recovery is still several years away and the major problems that predated covid and persisted through it — poverty, homelessness, affordable housing, unemployment and under-employment — are still with us in the city and across the nation. Nonetheless, the drive to vaccinate the residents of the city is showing substantial success. If this achievement continues, the city’s ability to control the harm from this deadly disease will give the local economy a real chance to recover and, along with it, a chance for the city to get on top of its many problems, especially compared to many other jurisdictions in this country.

NYC Vaccination Program Outpaces the Nation
The facts are that the residents of New York City are making major progress on getting vaccinated against COVID-19; better progress, in fact, than the rest of the nation. The city’s Department of Health covid vaccine tracker reports that 84.7% of the city’s adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine and 77.3% are fully vaccinated as of October 18. By contrast, the CDC is reporting as of that same date, 78.9% of U.S. adults had gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and 68.4% were fully vaccinated. New York City is doing especially well vaccinating adolescents. Mayor de Blasio stated on October 1 that nearly 75% of 12- to 17-year-olds had gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, substantially better than the national rate of 58% as of October 12 (my calculation using the CDC website data). The city’s decision to use schools as vaccine sites undoubtedly contributed to this success.

Interpreting New York City’s vaccination results is complicated because of under-reporting of vaccination rates by ethnicity, as well as the fact that the city is using older Census data. I have included a note on New York City vaccination data at the end of this article to discuss this concern.

The City’s Economic Recovery from Covid is Weaker Than the Nation’s
New York City needs as much public health and safety as the vaccines can give its residents because the city’s economic recovery is very weak compared to the nation as a whole. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the contrast — see employment recovery from the depths of the pandemic in April 2020 for New York City and the nation:

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The data above show the city lost 927,000 jobs, 20% of its payroll employment, between February and April 2020. By August 2021, it had recovered 454,000 jobs, nearly half of those lost. The nation lost more than 21 million jobs in those first two months of the pandemic’s hold, over 15%, but recovered 17 million jobs, nearly 77%, by August 2021. Jobs dependent on social gathering, like in schools, and the economy’s weak links, like tourism, leisure and hospitality, the arts, recreation, and entertainment, need public health and safety. Policies at all governmental levels and in the private sector, to promote vaccinations will ultimately drive the economic recovery in New York City and elsewhere.

Tourism, Leisure, and Hospitality
A report on the impact of COVID-19 on New York City tourism by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli indicated this sector lost about 90,000 jobs in 2020. The sector has picked up in 2021 and President Biden’s authorization for vaccinated foreigners to resume travel to the United States begins November 8. Leisure and hospitality employment as a whole dropped over 300,000 — two-thirds of the total — from February to April 2020 and has still only recovered about half those jobs. International travel should stimulate the city’s economy and has significant secondary economic impacts on sectors like retail because international visitors spend plenty of money.

Vaccine Mandates
Vaccination mandates are foundational for the city’s economy. In July 2021 the city initiated a mandate for all its 300,000+ employees that they get vaccinated or get tested weekly, and then followed up with a full mandate for its school system employees to get vaccinated. Courts have so far upheld the city’s school employee vaccine mandate and the de Blasio administration reported that as of October 4, 95% of school system employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The mandates are intended to stabilize and sustain in-school learning and assure parents of their children’s safety. As parents return to the labor market over time, employment in the city as a whole should gain.

On October 20, the city broadened the vaccine mandate to all its employees, beyond schools and its own health care workers, effective November 1. About 160,000 employees are newly covered; the de Blasio administration stated that about 70% of those newly covered have already received at least one vaccine dose. The unvaccinated employees can get $500 if they receive a vaccine at a city-run site by October 29. About 70% of the Police Department and 60% of the Fire and Sanitation Departments have at least one dose already. Based on the experience of the school system, it’s likely that an overwhelming portion of the remaining employees will comply.

The city has mandated proof of vaccination for many indoor locations, including restaurants, theaters, museums, concerts, gyms, and others. Mayor de Blasio said that vaccinations had risen 45% since the various mandates began being issued in July, through the end of September. The vaccine mandates are coinciding with the re-opening of Broadway and the cultural sector.

New York State has also mandated vaccinations for health care employees and is extending the mandate to many care facilities. Federal courts have restrained the State (for the time being) from enforcing the mandate in health care for persons receiving religious exemptions. As of September 27, about 92% of health care employees across the state were vaccinated. The state’s court system has also mandated vaccinations.

The Office Sector and Remote Work
There were 1.6 million office workers in New York City in 2019, according to a report on the impact of COVID-19 for this sector of the economy issued by the State Comptroller in September. This sector only lost 6% of its employment in 2020. The financial industry held most of its employment and contributed extensively to the tax base during the pandemic because most high-paying jobs continued. Remote working enabled much of the office-based workforce to continue their activity. In fact, by September 2021 only about 30% of office work had returned in person on a regular basis. A survey of major employers in this analysis reported on both remote work and vaccination policies:

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The survey shows that remote work or hybrid remote and in-person work will continue for many major employers. Although many employers are not imposing vaccine mandates, the federal government’s mandate, not yet in effect, will ultimately affect many tens of thousands of office workers. The widespread vaccination rates in the city and its suburbs indicate many office workers will already be vaccinated upon their return and that many office spaces will have very high portions of their workers vaccinated and enjoy safe returns. 

A Resilient City
The city is fortunate that such a major portion of the resident population has enough common sense to embrace getting vaccinated, despite the protests of a tiny minority. This common sense, in combination with the immense effort to distribute and administer the vaccines, may yield an extraordinary percentage of the population fully vaccinated sometime in 2022. The city’s residents and leaders may demonstrate yet again the resiliency that will enable it to match the recoveries from the Fiscal Crisis, 9/11, and the Great Recession.

An Important Note on NYC Vaccination Data
The city Department of Health (DOH) is continuously reporting covid vaccination data on its website, and there is certainly major progress in getting a very large majority of the city’s population vaccinated. As can be seen from the table below, taken from the website updated as of the morning of October 12, 84.1% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 76.5% is fully vaccinated:

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One concern I have is that the percentage of the population vaccinated may be overestimated, but not by a large amount. DOH reports it is using a U.S. Census 2019 population estimate for the city, which is 8.336 million. The U.S. Census population data for 2020 released in August 2021 showed 8.804 million, almost 500,000 more persons than the number being used by DOH.

DOH also reports that move-out and move-in data from the Post Office are not being used. These data indicate that the pandemic affected out-migration from the city in 2020, although some of that may have been temporary. Applying a ratio that adds the nearly 500,000 persons from the 2020 Census to the rates brings first doses and fully vaccinated down about four percentage points each, for one dose to 80% of adults and fully-vaccinated to 72.5%; still better than national rates, which as of October 12 were 78.4% for adults with one dose and 67.9% fully-vaccinated.

Vaccination Rates by Race
DOH also provides demographic and borough breakdowns for vaccinations. However, it is acknowledged in notes on data that vaccinations by race may have omissions from non-reporting. Race/Ethnicity is self-reported, but a person may simply not state their race at the time of vaccination, and/or the health care provider submitting the information to the city may not report the person’s race. 

An October 12 DOH table for vaccination rates by race/ethnicity and by gender shows the following:

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The race/ethnicity vaccination rate data are not consistent with a population that is 84% vaccinated with one dose. The 2019 Census data used by DOH show New York City is 32% white, 24% Black, 28% Hispanic, 14% Asian, and 2% other. Applying the vaccination rates to these proportions brings the adult one dose vaccination rate to 67%, way below the city’s reported 84% number.

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I estimate one dose vaccination rates are more like 80% for whites and Hispanics, close to 70% for Blacks, and 90%+ for Asians.

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Jim Brennan was a member of the New York State Assembly for 32 years, where he chaired four committees. On Twitter @JimBrennanNY.

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Now or Never: The High Stakes of Federal Housing Funding


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Housing repairs (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


When President Biden and Congress first announced the details of the Build Back Better Act, they sent a loud and clear signal to housing advocates and stakeholders that help was finally on the way. The $330 billion investment into the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and $30 billion into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program both represented the most significant plan in generations to address a worsening housing crisis.

Now, however, Washington is sending a different signal: housing is not important enough. In the latest round of negotiations, Congress is considering cutting the housing programs by more than two thirds, lowering the investment to just $100 billion. That will mean significantly less funding for rental assistance, public housing, and tools that will boost production of housing across the country – and, in that scenario, we all lose.

Let’s be clear: housing is not some arcane policy issue. It materially impacts the lives of every single American, and the reality is that far too many people simply do not have access to the safe, affordable home they deserve. If Congress doesn’t step up and protect the vital housing measures originally proposed, voters will notice.

After all, addressing a worsening housing crisis is the very foundation on which the rest of the social spending bill rests.

Children can’t perform their best at school when they must return to homeless shelters or to other crowded, unsafe living conditions. Families paying more than they can afford on rent are forced to forgo basic necessities every day. Individuals struggling with homelessness continue to interact with the criminal justice system at higher rates when they really need stable housing. Long lasting racial inequities in homeownership continue unabated because there is not enough opportunity. And aging housing stock continues to exacerbate climate crises because it is outdated, inefficient, and not prepared for the 21st century.

These are just some of the many downstream impacts of housing insecurity. And the Build Back Better Act is a rare opportunity to actually make a real difference.

The original proposal called for a historic investment in affordable housing, including $90 billion for rental assistance, $80 billion for public housing, $37 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to produce new low-income units, and $35 billion for HOME Investment Partnership to expand homeownership opportunities, and fixes to the LIHTC program to unlock millions in new private resources and double the production of affordable housing and significantly funded other vital HUD programs.

For New York, the results would be completely transformational. The expanded rental assistance program would increase the number of assisted households by 30%, serving 151,000 additional New Yorkers – 52,000 of whom would be children. Public housing funding could address mounting capital needs at NYCHA, eliminating the repair backlog by 100%, meaning we could finally address an embarrassing emergency in our public housing stock. And tweaks to LIHTC would produce 82,000 new units of affordable housing, ultimately creating 124,000 new jobs, $14 billion in business income, and $5 billion in new tax revenue.

This would help the City and State actually take significant steps towards ending homelessness, increase affordable rental and homeownership supply and address NYCHA’s capital needs. But deep cuts to this planned funding would simply maintain the unacceptable status quo: more than 90,000 people experiencing homelessness on a given night last year across the state, a deficit of almost 650,000 affordable and available rental units, and the majority of low-income households paying more than half their income in rent. City Hall and Albany will continue to make progress for housing on the margins without real help from Washington.

Changing American society for the better starts with addressing the real housing emergency facing far too many people. We got into this mess originally because Washington de-prioritized housing – and we cannot afford to do so again. If we do, it may be decades before we get another chance.

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Rachel Fee is the Executive Director of the New York Housing Conference. On Twitter @RachelFee4NY & @TheNYHC.

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25 Years of Growth and Impact at the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development


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DYCD (photo: @NYCYouth)


As New York City recovers from a historic year fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Youth and Community Development is marking a very special anniversary: 25 years as a City agency.

Our agency, DYCD, has seen its fair share of challenges over the last quarter-century but has always risen to the occasion. As the largest municipal funder of capacity-building geared toward a healthy network of nonprofits, our funded providers were critical in the city’s ability to weather and rebound from 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, and COVID-19.

We have centered the agency around a set of community outcomes and common strategies, and have realigned resources to support priorities in areas such as communications, data, partnerships, and professional development. As a result, we have made great strides in transforming DYCD from our respective “silos” to a unified mission—internally, we call it “Solos to Symphony.” That ultimately benefits the agency and the New Yorkers who depend on our funded programs.

DYCD has grown and changed over multiple administrations—from our creation in 1996 under Mayor Giuliani to a renewed focus on afterschool, literacy, and Cornerstone Community Centers at NYCHA complexes during the Bloomberg Administration.

Under Mayor de Blasio, COMPASS/SONYC afterschool was born, making afterschool available to every middle-schooler in the city. Earlier this year, the last of 813 beds for runaway and homeless youth aged 16-24 went online—more than triple the number in 2014. And the agency’s initial $77 million budget has reached a billion dollars for the first time ever this fiscal year, a nearly 1200% increase—most of it under this administration.

Since becoming DYCD commissioner in 2014, I have also focused on the adoption of “settlement house” principles within the agency so that we can better meet the needs of our network of community-based organizations and the New Yorkers they serve.

Settlement houses—44 of them under the umbrella organization United Neighborhood Houses—are deeply embedded in the communities they serve and uniquely positioned to provide the programs and services neighborhoods need the most. By taking lessons from the nonprofit sector’s ability to seamlessly develop holistic strategies from disparate programs and revenue streams, DYCD is more intentional than ever in streamlining processes and “connecting the dots,” making it easier for people who are seeking services to become aware of additional resources that may help them. This has been supported by the development of universal indicators and program applications, strategic planning, greater transparency and efficiency, and more effectively integrated programs.

Looking back at my tenure, I celebrate so many of our shared accomplishments, especially baselined funding for Beacon (the creation of Mayor Dinkins and then-Youth Services Commissioner Richard Murphy in 1991) and the Summer Youth Employment Program. Over the last 20 years, SYEP has become more user-friendly with debit cards, online applications, and direct deposit, and the program now “meets young people where they are” through more concentration on career goals and life skills.

I also am proud of technological innovations such as discoverDYCD, DYCD Connect, and integrated data systems, more focused mission and vision statements, and a redesign and expansion of the Community Needs Assessment to better inform how funding is distributed. 

It is bittersweet that I mark our agency’s silver anniversary in my final weeks as DYCD’s fifth commissioner. It has been my privilege of shepherding the agency through a period of unprecedented budget and programming growth. As we prepare to hand the reins over to a new administration, I am confident that DYCD has a solid foundation to move the agency into the next 25 years and beyond.

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Bill Chong, Commissioner, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development. On Twitter @NYCYouth.

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Leveraging Titans of Industry to Jump-Start NYC’s Engine of Social Mobility


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The mayor at Google (photo: Mayoral Photography Office)


In September, Google announced that it will expand its physical presence on the West side of Manhattan by purchasing St. John’s Terminal. The price tag? $2.1 billion. The new office space will open in 2023, and when it does Google will be one of the largest leaseholders in the city.

In 2023, approximately 46,000 undergraduate students will graduate from the City University of New York (CUNY) system, assuming current enrollment and graduation trends hold. Over 60% will come from families with annual incomes of less than $30,000. 

The CUNY system has been touted as an engine of economic mobility in New York City, but it’s critically neglected. New York needs to inject capital investment from large corporations, like Google, into the CUNY system if it is serious about economic growth and sustainability. To do this, the city should raise property taxes on the 50-plus New York City-based Fortune 500 companies and appropriate the money to the CUNY system. This investment should eventually eliminate the burden of tuition for all students.

Tuition dollars account for 40% of CUNY’s funding, the second-largest source behind state dollars. This means the burden of supplying gasoline for the “engine of economic mobility” falls significantly on students and their families. CUNY is a proven driver of social mobility, but this practice— underfunding one of the city’s best educational resources— is dampening the system’s potential impact. This can change, however. We only need to look toward St. John’s Terminal.

By raising property taxes on NYC Fortune 500 companies and investing that money in the CUNY system, the city will see a stronger path-to-college pipeline from underserved public high schools and increased economic development in low-income neighborhoods. The buck can’t stop there, however. These Fortune 500 companies must also invest in internship and mentorship programs with individual CUNY schools, which would benefit all involved as public-private partnerships.

Over 80% of CUNY graduates stay in New York City post-graduation, meaning money invested in CUNY is money invested in the future of New York City’s workforce. With the financial and institutional support of locally-based Fortune 500 companies, low-income communities will reap the benefits of generational economic development as more young people are able to attend college and attain higher-paying jobs as a result. Furthermore, creating these public-private partnerships would give corporations that call New York City home improved access to a diverse network of talented future professionals who can take their companies to the next level. 

Until the financial crisis of 1976, CUNY was free for city residents. Now, undergraduate tuition is $6,930 a year for full-time students at four-year colleges and $4,800 annually for full-time community college students. It’s not hard to see how, for a family with a household income of less than $30,000 a year, this is crippling. Eliminating CUNY tuition by taxing large corporations will both lessen the burden for struggling students and open the door of opportunity to students who might not have otherwise been able to afford college at all.

Students and their families aren’t the only ones who stand to gain from these partnerships. Requiring social investment in addition to compulsory financial investment in CUNY institutions will allow NYC-based companies to attract, develop, and tap diverse talent in its incipient stages. Not only that, but they can make good on their promises to recruit and hire more diverse talent in the coming decades. CUNY students are over 65% Black or Hispanic. Partnering CUNY institutions with industries that are predominately white will be one step on the path to desegregating some of the largest corporations in the country.

To be sure, some corporations are already investing in mentorship and internship programs in CUNY schools. In August of 2021, for example, the CUNY “Futures in Finance” program launched in collaboration with Bloomberg LP, Centerbridge and Goldman Sachs. This program aimed to “cultivate a vast pool of untapped talent and enable companies across the finance industry to engage students from first semester through graduation.” While this is surely the right idea, it is currently only available for students at three CUNY campuses and does not address students’ costs of tuition. Pairing an initiative like “Futures in Finance” with a capital injection and implementing it at scale would create the broadest and boldest pathway to development for New York City’s future workforce. 

Critics might argue that raising corporate taxes will deter organizations from coming to the city. Raising taxes on corporations, however, is one of the highest polling issues across party lines, supported nationally by nearly two-thirds of Americans. When Amazon announced in 2018 that it would build a new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens,  a broad coalition of opponents protested the fact that the corporation would receive over $3 billion in tax incentives and grants. The backlash ultimately led Amazon to pull out of the deal in February 2019. Now, as the city continues to recuperate from pandemic-related shocks, it’s more important than ever not only to avoid these kinds of missteps, but to ensure private businesses and public enterprises like CUNY experience equitable recoveries.

If private companies like Google can afford billions of dollars in office space, they can surely spare the change for deeper investment in their own backyard. By implementing a capital and social investment system at scale, more students will be able to attend college and businesses will have access to more fresh, diverse talent. Creating public-private partnerships and raising taxes on corporations will move the city closer to making the CUNY system the world-class engine of social mobility New York students deserve.

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Devynn Barnes is a graduate student at the New York University Wagner School of Public Service studying International Development Policy and Management. She has worked in both elementary and high schools in the Bronx.

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Good Jobs for the Formerly Incarcerated will Make Our City Safer


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A 'jails to jobs' event (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


The humanitarian crisis at Rikers Island is alarming. Criminal justice reform advocates and elected officials are right to demand an end to the violence, death, and chaos. Governor Kathy Hochul deserves praise for ordering the release of nearly 200 detainees. 

But what happens to New Yorkers after they leave Rikers and other correctional facilities?

That’s a key question few in public life are asking.

Here’s the reality: New Yorkers seeking to re-enter our workforce and economy after incarceration often end up in low-wage, dangerous jobs in the construction industry. 

Construction is one of few industries where New Yorkers with criminal records can find employment. New York’s reentry system relies on unregulated employment agencies to funnel workers from correctional facilities to nonunion construction sites. These firms are known as ‘body shops.’ They provide physical labor to contractors who want to build projects cheaply.

Reentry workers must “seek and maintain employment” as a condition of their release on parole. That means construction employers can regularly reduce safety standards, cut wages, and eliminate job-site protections – and get away with it. Formerly incarcerated New Yorkers risk re-imprisonment if they speak out against this exploitation and demand better treatment.

Our city’s reentry workforce overwhelmingly comes from low-income communities of color – Black and brown communities suffering from the highest death rates and job losses from COVID-19, and the highest crime rates.  

Research and common sense tell us that the quality of reentry employment, as measured in job satisfaction and wage levels, leads to reduced recidivism – less crime and violence on our streets. There is no reason to engage in criminal activity when you are on a stable career path with economic security. But if the only job you can get after leaving Rikers or another correctional facility is a low-wage survival job, you may return to crime to pay your bills or a number of other reasons.

That’s why all New Yorkers who want criminal justice reform and a safer city should also support higher employment standards for reentry jobs in construction.  

A bill now supported by the majority of the New York City Council will help reform our broken reentry system and protect our communities, while helping to improve job quality for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers.

It would require construction ‘body shops’ and similar reentry employment agencies to be licensed. This legislation would give reentry workers clear notice of their rights and job assignments, and disclose basic information about the agencies’ workforce and labor practices. Crucially, reentry labor brokers and job-placement firms would be required to tell workers what benefits are being offered, what their pay will be, and where they will work. This disclosure requirement is essential for protecting laborers who will build the future of New York, and for incentivizing the construction industry to create safer and better-paying jobs as part of covid recovery. 

The path to a safer city requires the creation of more economic opportunities for New Yorkers to be safe and thrive in their jobs. That’s what this bill will do, along with initiatives such as Pathways to Apprenticeship, which the City Council has actively supported, in District 21 in Queens and in other communities of color hit hardest by COVID-19.

This smart, pragmatic bill has garnered support from City Council members across the city. Passage of the bill this fall would be a major legacy item for City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.  Indeed, it would send a strong and clear message about how our city can advance real reentry in communities ravaged by mass incarceration, where economic opportunity has long been absent.

Plenty of responsible contractors and forward-thinking developers earn strong profits while partnering with trade unions to build and grow our city. They know that lowering construction safety standards, wages, and job quality is a race to the bottom that will drag us all down.

Expanding construction union membership will boost wages and increase economic security for New Yorkers returning home from prison, while reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety for all. 

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Francisco Moya is a New York City Council Member representing District 21 in Queens. On Twitter @FranciscoMoyaNY. John Simmons is a former body shop worker and member of Laborers’ Local 79.

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Who Decides How Public Money Is Spent?


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NY AG Letitia James with a big check (photo: @PatriciaFahy109)


It was with dismay that I read recent news reports about New York Attorney General Tish James embarking on a “HealNY” tour around the state to announce the distribution of $1.5 billion to fight the opioid epidemic.

The press announcements from the Attorney General's office appear to give her full and sole credit for the amounts and distribution of this fund. For example, an October 4 press release says: New York Attorney General Letitia James will begin her ‘HealNY’ statewide tour that will deliver up to $1.5 billion to New York communities most impacted by the opioid crisis....Today’s announcements are the first in Attorney General James’ statewide tour taking place throughout October, where she will highlight her efforts to combat the opioid crisis in New York and across the nation.”

A follow-up led with the announcement that "Elected Officials and Advocates Across New York City Praise AG James’ Continued Efforts to Deliver Funds for Opioid Abatement to Five Boroughs.”

This reminded me of a similar situation six years ago when Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced a plan to make grants totaling $800 million to a variety of criminal justice programs. In both instances, the funds to be allocated came from settlements of civil litigation -- the DA’s from banks and the AG’s from drug companies.

Oh no, I thought, here we go again!

When the DA’s criminal justice fund was announced, I said that notwithstanding his good intentions and reliance on a respected and capable entity to administer the program, it is the legislative budgeting process that should make spending decisions about money paid to city or state government, not a law enforcement officer:

“…the law giving Mr. Vance sole control over the funds should be reconsidered. Ideally…the money should have been treated as revenue to the city, and its expenditure determined through the budget process.”

“No one official should be making decisions about how substantial sums of revenue are distributed…”

I had also made this point when a dispute broke out between then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo about who had the authority it distribute more than $600 million from a settlement with JP Morgan:

“Funds paid in settlement of litigation with the state, unless intended to compensate for specific losses, should be used as determined through the normal budget and appropriation process. The attorney general should not be able to unilaterally allocate public funds without the executive and legislative review that the budget process is intended to provide.”

So the campaign-style roadshow by Attorney General James indicated that once again litigation-generated revenue was being inappropriately distributed by a prosecutor outside the budget process. But fortunately, that turns out not to be the case.

The Attorney General collaborated with members of the State Senate and Assembly to pass legislation this year creating an Opioid Settlement Fund to serve as a lockbox for all receipts from settlements related to the opioid epidemic, reserving all of the funding for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery. The Fund will be overseen by a 19-person board including commissioners of relevant state agencies and two appointees of the AG as well as appointees of the Governor, both houses of the Legislature, and nominees of counties and other localities. The law specifies the purposes for which the funds from the relevant litigations may be used and a formula for distributing the funds throughout the state.

How reassuring to see that the AG understood that the monies she would obtain from the opioid litigation should be controlled by appropriation of the Legislature, with her office’s input but not ultimate authority. The full Settlement Fund Board has not been appointed yet and therefore the specific distribution of funds has not been determined and likely will not be completed by the November 1 date in the statute.

While it would be far better if all litigation proceeds were deposited in the general fund to be used as needed to fund the government, this structure is an improvement over prior law and practice, and that is more important than the impression left by the AG’s tour that one elected official is disbursing a big chunk of money on her own.

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Carol Kellermann was president of Citizens Budget Commission from 2008 through 2018.

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Vote Yes on Ballot Questions to Improve Redistricting and Voting Rights


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Voters at the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


In New York, we are just weeks away from going to the polls to vote in the general election. You may know that we will vote for various important positions in our local government, such as the mayor of New York City and county executives outside of the Big Apple. You may not know that, across the state, we will also be voting on critical ballot questions. To strengthen democracy in our state, it’s important that you vote “yes” on three key questions to reform the redistricting process and expand our voting rights.

Over the years, our communities have tirelessly worked to increase voter turnout and ensure the voices of immigrant, Black, brown, and working-class New Yorkers be heard at the polls. In the upcoming elections, we can take further steps to help all eligible voters cast their ballots by approving ballot questions to adopt same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee voting, and redistricting reform. At least 50 community-based organizations across the state have supported these measures. And we have launched "Yes on 1, 3, and 4" to educate voters. Here’s why.

The first proposal on the ballot (Question 1) will help improve the redistricting process in our state. In 2020, community-based organizations like ours led massive organizing efforts to have all our communities counted in the Census. Legislators have twice passed a series of important reforms to improve the redistricting process. The proposal before the voters would ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, be included in the Census, regardless of any potential future shenanigans from Washington.

It would also guarantee that incarcerated persons remain counted at the place of their last residence for redistricting and cap the number of state senators at 63 (Senate Republicans increased the number last time around to hold on to a majority). Finally, it will make the redistricting process work by moving up the timeline for redistricting, repealing inoperative language, and eliminating differential vote thresholds for adopting redistricting plans based on which party controls the State Legislature. This will improve the redistricting process and allow for equal and fairer representation across the state. 

November’s ballot will also include key voting rights questions on same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting. Many times, eligible voters miss the deadline for registration or are not aware of any issues with their registration until they arrive at the polls. Same-day voter registration (Question 3) will eliminate voter registration deadlines and allow these voters to make sure they’re registered and cast their ballot on Election Day. 

Voters should also support ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting (Question 4). In the midst of the global pandemic, we witnessed throughout the country and in our state how absentee voting was crucial in allowing voters to cast their ballots. The wide availability of this form of voting should continue after the pandemic. No-excuse absentee voting will allow voters to vote in the future using an absentee ballot without requiring a justification. This is a critical step forward that will help expand access to meet the needs of voters who need an absentee ballot due to health concerns, personal emergencies or who simply cannot make it to the voting polls.

With the elections approaching, New Yorkers will vote for new leadership for their communities. We should also vote to expand voting rights and strengthen our democracy. Vote “yes” on Questions 1, 3, and 4 and help our state move forward toward fairer districts and expanded voting rights for all. 

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Theo Oshiro is the Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York. Melody Lopez is the Executive Director of the New York Civic Engagement Table. On Twitter @TheoOshiro of @MaketheRoadNY, and @NYCivicEngage.

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Governor Hochul’s Opportunity to Transform New York for Future Generations


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Gov. Hochul (photo: governor's office)


We all knew Governor Kathy Hochul would be unique. Simply by virtue of being our state’s first woman executive, she will stand out in history. She entered the office in unfortunate circumstances, not the typical path to New York’s Executive Chamber. But since taking the oath just over a month ago, we’ve seen a governor in action. 

New York’s 57th governor began her term with a ceremonial swearing in where she wore white, the color of the suffragettes, and noted that “brevity is the hallmark of [her] administration.” Later that day, she delivered an address to the people of New York that included the promise of a fresh start and a commitment to address big issues facing communities, saying “…this is our time.”

In early September, she met with the press regarding the emergency response to historic flooding from Hurricane Ida in a windbreaker with what appeared to be a did-it-herself alteration crossing out in black marker the “Lt.” before “Governor” on her embroidered title. “No-nonsense,” it seems, may be a hallmark of her leadership style, in addition to brevity. 

During Climate Week, the governor shared stories of her childhood, detailing why she cares about the environment and why it is a top priority for her. Growing up in Lackawanna, “pollution was just a fact of life” for everyone who lived there, she said. She described the dirty, orange air and the harm if caused. Her announcements included an air monitoring program for communities most affected by air pollution and the release of $600 million in grants to protect clean drinking water and modernize infrastructure.

At several events that week she expressed her intention to accelerate state investments in clean water quickly and efficiently to address local needs. She also proposed to add $1 billion to the 2022 Environmental Bond Act, to total $4 billion, and proposed to rename the measure to accurately describe its purpose, “Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs.”

It is, as the governor noted on her first day, our time. Our time to tackle global warming, from reducing the pollution that causes poor air quality and frequent, extreme weather to protecting people and buildings from deadly floods and heat. Our time to ensure state agencies have the resources they need to implement laws and regulations that protect us from pollution and safeguard our environment. Our time to invest in infrastructure that will ensure we have safe roads and clean water to drink and to swim and fish in. Our time to conserve our forests, farms, and wetlands before they are lost forever.

We’re facing big, complex problems, and we need all levels of government to deliver solutions. Governor Hochul can provide strong leadership in New York and demonstrate to the nation what is possible by empowering her agencies to achieve our ambitious climate goals and collaborating with the Legislature to provide the necessary resources and enact policies to save lives. Top priorities must include rapid action to build the renewable energy economy, protect clean water and air, and conserve family farms and forests. The governor already has a strong start. 

In addition to passing the Bond Act in November 2022, we must increase investments in our environment and infrastructure right now – including a $500 million Environmental Protection Fund and $1 billion for the Clean Water Infrastructure Improvement Act. These funds generate huge returns on investment for New York communities, such as good jobs, while preventing pollution in our drinking water and conserving local farms, forests, and parks.

Increasing funding for our State Parks and state lands owned by the Department of Environmental Conservation will provide the recreational opportunities New Yorkers sought out with heightened urgency during the pandemic. It will also ensure the state-managed lands and waters are in good condition and safely accessible to residents and tourists alike – an economic boon to many communities. 

Finally, and in a move that would additionally set Governor Hochul apart from her predecessor, we need to increase investments in the public workforce at state agencies. Big announcements for capital projects and nation-leading goals often make excellent press releases. But after the dust settles, someone needs to hold programs accountable for meeting their goals and ensure funding gets to communities quickly and essential services are provided to New Yorkers. 

By investing in our state agencies, partnering with the Legislature, leveraging federal funding, and providing effective, transparent leadership, Governor Hochul can cement her place in history as a truly unique and inspirational leader. 

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Jessica Ottney Mahar is Policy and Strategy Director at The Nature Conservancy. On Twitter @jessicaottney & @nature_ny.

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Health and Safety for Everyone: Former City Jail Physicians on the Crisis at Rikers and Beyond


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Mayor de Blasio & company make an announcement (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


What is going on at Rikers Island? As former physicians on Rikers Island and in other city jails, we have been horrified to hear of the unsafe, unhygienic, violent, and deadly conditions there. Over 12 people have died this year alone. To prevent more suffering and death, courts need to release thousands of people immediately and to stop sending more people in.

Despite limitations associated with the jail setting, we worked hard to provide excellent medical care for people who were incarcerated. The clinics provided evidence-based substance use disorder treatment, gender affirming hormone therapy, dental care, and mental health care — services oftentimes difficult to access in the community. The electronic medical record was queried by administrators to ensure that patients had appropriately scheduled follow-up appointments and that patterns of injuries were systematically addressed. Providers followed evidence-based algorithms in caring for patients with chronic diseases, referred patients for specialty care, and attended best-practice lectures common to academic medical institutions. On paper, the medical care provided in the jails was exceptional compared to other carceral systems.

Now, we hear from former colleagues and impacted communities that the provision of even basic healthcare is nearly impossible in the jails. We’re told that providers are waiting in the medical clinics for patients who are never brought. We’re told that patients in need of emergency care are waiting for hours for Department of Correction (DOC) escorts to transport them to the hospital.

We read in this letter from Dr. Ross MacDonald, the Chief Medical Officer of Correctional Health Services (and our former boss), that people are waiting for days in intake prior to seeing a medical provider, and that intake areas are overcrowded and violent. We’ve learned that people with positive COVID-19 tests routinely wait more than 24 hours in crowded “pens” prior to being put in isolation.

Elected officials have toured the facilities, testifying about filthy conditions, people sleeping in showers, and even a witnessed suicide attempt. Recently released inmates have shared their stories: days and weeks in intake, sleeping on bed-bug-ridden mats, and without showers, clean water, masks, and adequate food. 

To date, proposed solutions to these problems have largely focused on increasing staffing and reopening strategically shuttered facilities. But the idea that improved staffing will magically improve conditions on the Island is not grounded in reality. The truth is that, even in times of adequate staffing, the care we provided in the medical clinics was marred by the violent and inhumane setting in which our clinics were embedded.

Our exam rooms were not private. The clinic was disturbingly loud with guards and inmates yelling profanities and threats at each other or with people in “pens” begging to be seen right away or struggling psychiatrically. Patients reported trying to get appointments for weeks but being denied care by guards who wouldn’t sign them up for or escort them to the clinic. Providers were limited in what we could prescribe because even pretty harmless things like chapstick were considered “contraband.” Improving staffing will not fix any of these problems.

The only just solution to the problems at Rikers is reducing the ever-growing incarcerated population. To do this, we need to listen to impacted communities and their advocates. As healthcare workers committed to addressing upstream social determinants of health, we heed these suggestions in full, including:

-Stopping the prosecution of minor offenses like drug possession and sex work, like they have done in Baltimore and have started to do in Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office. This policy should be applied retroactively so that people with pending cases, warrants, or on probation for these offenses are impacted. 

-Release people who are held in jail for failure to appear in court, especially if they are not there on a serious offense.

-Prosecutors and defense should file for early release for people in prison who have less than one year left in their sentence.

-Prosecutors and defense and probation services should work to eliminate probation for minor offenses and decline to incarcerate on technical violations.

-Allow review of bail petitions with an eye toward more flexibility on release given the humanitarian crisis.

Surely, some might worry that these changes could make the city less safe, and the city needs to meet with communities to address their concerns. In the meantime, we are convinced by evidence that shows that large-scale decarceration efforts have been successful in the past, and that decarceration can improve both public health and public safety

In 1992, Vernon C. Bain Center, the barge now docked at Hunts Point, the Bronx, was opened as a temporary solution to jail overcrowding. Once it was staffed, it became a permanent facility and now “houses” nearly 600 people. Last month, Stephan Khadu, only 24 years old, died on that barge, marking the twelfth and most recent death associated with the city jails this year. The Rikers Island crisis highlights that there is really no such thing as a “safe jail for staff and patients,” and if concerns today are met with increased staffing and facility re-opening instead of large-scale decarceration efforts, we will move further from health justice. What people need and deserve is comprehensive healthcare in their own communities where they live, not in city jails. 

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Zoey Thill, MD, MPH, MPP, is a member of the Public Health Advisory Group for RAPP (Release Aging People in Prisons). Kimberly Sue, MD, PhD, is an Instructor at the Yale School of Medicine, Program in Addiction Medicine and Medical Director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition.

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Giving Children Something to Live For


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Kids at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


Positioning efforts to alleviate childhood poverty in any way against efforts to build future assets for children is a mistake. I am a professor at the University of Michigan. As a child I grew up poor, evicted often, living in hotels, homeless at other times, while eating seemed optional, not mandatory, for survival in our house. I ended up dropping out of high school as many kids like me do.

Being poor in America is hard, I would not downplay that for a second. But the hardest thing I found about being poor is feeling like you have no tangible hope. This is not to say poor people don’t have hope, they do. For example, my mother and I would walk through affluent neighborhoods and talk of living there one day, but we could see no tangible way to make that dream a reality. While this type of hope helps you make it through the day, it doesn’t change how you behave. It is hope divorced from a future. 

What has made the United States of America a destination, and the thing that makes it great, is not that you will not experience hardship, but in the midst of hardship you can see a way to a better future. In fact, when many people set out for the U.S., they understand that they will have to suffer untold risks and hardships. However, these risks and hardships pale in comparison to the concrete possibility of a better future. And while it might be vogue to downplay the importance of The American Dream nowadays, it is our belief in this dream that has carried us through our toughest times as a people.

This is not a dream about making it through the day, it is a promise that we can have a better tomorrow, that the land is rich and the institutions robust (even though access has not been equal), so if you work hard and have the ability you can change your position in life. 

This is not an argument to abandon policies that give people “enough to live by,” indeed those are also needed. Instead, I am arguing that the drive Americans have demonstrated throughout history comes from more than having enough money to pay the bills each week, it comes from the promise of a better future. Not just yours, but that your children can have a better future. This promise feels tangible to us, because we see the richness of our land and the strength of our institutions. 

When talking about the New Deal, Roosevelt put it this way: “Liberty requires opportunity to make a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living that gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.” Without this opportunity, he continued, “life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness.”

We must recognize the importance of building future assets for children, helping spark their power to pursue or maybe even dream of happiness.     

Children’s Savings Account (CSAs) programs like what New York City and Mayor de Blasio have called ‘baby bonds’ are asset-building efforts, even if it can be argued that they do not go far enough. Assets allow and prompt children to plan for their futures. When children have assets of their own, they can begin to visualize their future selves going to college, buying a home, starting a business, or retiring one day. Hope becomes tangible, and not just wishful. Nurturing our children’s future selves is as important to motivating them to invest in the American way of life as meeting their daily needs. Dreams buoyed by well-funded CSAs allow a child to withstand hardship whether it be poverty, war, or even a pandemic. 

Giving children a CSA (i.e., assets) is not delaying gratification but providing them with the capacity to think and plan for their futures, as American as apple pie or the iPhone.  

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William Elliott III is a Professor, Director of Joint Program in Social Work and Social Science, and Director of the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion (AEDI) at the University of Michigan.

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